Cycleways

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many dedicated cycle routes have been brought into use since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: These figures are not collected centrally. A cycle route is often made up of a combination of cycle lanes, cycle tracks and the local road network.
	Some data on the number of cycle tracks and cycle lanes constructed since 2001-02 is held although this is not complete. Local authorities outside London have reported through their local transport plans they have built the following number of new cycle lanes and cycle tracks:
	
		
			   Total number of cycle lanes and cycle tracks built 
			 2001-02 810 
			 2002-03 991 
			 2003-04 999 
			 2004-05 956 
			 2005-06 (1)744 
			 Total 4,500 
			 (1) 2005-06 data is yet to be audited and from this year the "good" and "excellent" rated authorities do not have to supply the above data. 
		
	
	Similar figures are not available for London boroughs but Transport for London report that 531km of the London Cycle Network+ were completed by May 2006 with a target of 900km due for completion by end 2010.

Whales: Conservation

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the 59(th) annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

Jonathan R Shaw: At this year's annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the UK and other anti-whaling countries were able to sponsor and secure several key resolutions: calling on Japan to halt its lethal "scientific" research programme; promoting the non-lethal use of cetaceans; and reaffirming the continued need for the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling. This last resolution subsequently served us well in the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, enabling us to defeat proposals aimed at eventually allowing trade in whale products to take place.
	My hon. Friends and ministerial predecessors, the hon. Members for Brent, North (Barry Gardiner) and Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw) respectively, have recently jointly written to all hon. Members to inform them about the outcome of this year's IWC meeting.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the educational maintenance allowance on recruitment to work-based learning programmes; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
	The Learning and Skills Council has commissioned a review of the effect of the extension of education maintenance allowance to work-based learning programmes through the Association of Learning Providers. The objectives of the review were to liaise with learning providers and key partners in the regions to identify key issues, areas of good practice and how these can be expanded to national level.
	The review identified that although starts on the Entry to Employment (E2E) programme were down nationally at the beginning of the 2006-07 year in comparison to the same period in 2005-06, these have now recovered and recruitment is in line with 2006-07 projections,
	A series of dissemination events took place to share good practice with the work-based learning provider network. The Learning and Skills Council will be undertaking an evaluation of the first year of extension of education maintenance allowance to young people in non-employed work-based learning and a full report is expected to be available in January 2008.

Students: Loans

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many university students received student loans in  (a) England,  (b) the South West and  (c) Cornwall in each year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 4 July 2007
	The available data is given in the table.
	
		
			  Numbers of students in receipt of an income-contingent student loan( 1) —Students domiciled in England, the South West Government office region, and Cornwall local authority, academic years 1999/2000 to 2005/06 
			  Thousand 
			  Academic year  England  South West Government office region  Cornwall local authority 
			 1999/2000(2) 368 38 4 
			 2000/01 536 56 6 
			 2001/02 629 65 7 
			 2002/03 666 68 7 
			 2003/04 682 76 8 
			 2004/05 693 75 8 
			 2005/06(3) 719 78 8 
			 (1) Figures include all students in receipt of an income-contingent maintenance loan in thousands and are rounded to the nearest 1,000 students. (2) Data are not available prior to 1999/2000. (3 )Provisional.  Source: Student Loans Company.

Graffiti: Prosecutions

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) prosecutions were made and  (b) fixed penalty notices were issued by (i) each police force and (ii) each local authority for graffiti under the (A) Criminal Damage Act 1971, (B) Clean Environment and Neighbourhoods Act 2005 and (C) Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 in each of the last 10 years.

David Hanson: Graffiti is not a specific offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971, the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 or the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.
	Prosecutions for graffiti under these acts would be included with other offences, for example under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 it is likely these offences would be prosecuted under 'other criminal damage'. It is therefore not possible to separate graffiti offences from other acts of criminal damage.
	Data on the number of environmental fixed penalty notices issued for graffiti-related offences are held by the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The following table provided by DEFRA shows the number of fixed penalty notices issued for offences relating to graffiti by local authorities under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 as amended by the Clean Environment and Neighbourhoods Act 2005, for the years 2004-05 and 2005-06. DEFRA do not hold this information broken down by police force area.
	
		
			  Local authority  Number of fixed penalties issued 
			  2004-05  
			 Blyth Valley BC 1 
			 Gateshead BC 26 
			 LB Barking and Dagenham 6 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne CC 5 
			 Sheffield CC 1 
			 Stockton-on-Tees DC 8 
			 Total 47 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 Newcastle upon Tyne CC 1 
			 Peterborough CC 2 
			 Solihull BC 14 
			 Southampton CC 2 
			 Total 19 
		
	
	Under the penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme, a fixed penalty of £80 may be issued for criminal damage up to a value of £500. While some PNDs issued for criminal damage may actually be for acts of graffiti, it is not possible to identify how many of these were issued for graffiti. This detailed information is only held by individual police forces.

Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what occasions the expert panel advising the Youth Justice Board on restraint met between 1996 and 2007.

David Hanson: An expert panel advising the Home Office on restraint techniques met on 27 January 1998. Expert panels advising the Youth Justice Board met on 25 November 2004, 10 March 2005 and 21 December 2006.

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what duty of care the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission owes to parents with care in respect of maintenance entitlement; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The responsibility for paying child maintenance lies with the non-resident parent in each case, not with the administrative body (whether CSA now or the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in the future). It follows that C-MEC will not have a common law duty of care to its clients in respect of child maintenance.

Princess Royal Barracks

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to discuss the implementation of the recommendations from the Deepcut Review with Sir Nicholas Blake QC, in the period since its publication in March 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Subsequent to the publication of the Deepcut Review in March 2006, MOD officials and my predecessor, Adam Ingram, engaged with Sir Nicholas Blake QC on the Government's response to the Review. They also subsequently corresponded on the Government's update to Parliament in a written ministerial statement on 28 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 91-5WS, which set out the progress made on implementing the recommendations made in the Review.

Burma: International Red Cross

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what action he is taking to urge the Burmese military regime to permit unhindered access to prisons in Burma by the International Committee of the Red Cross;
	(2)  what action he is taking to urge the Burmese military regime to re-open the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Meg Munn: We share the deep concerns of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) over the large-scale violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Burmese Government against civilians.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development released a joint statement on 29 June condemning the Burmese Government's failure to co-operate with the ICRC in its efforts to alleviate the suffering of the ordinary people of Burma and to assist mine victims and prisoners. The statement can be found at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front/pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPagec=Pagecid=1007029391629a=KArticleaid=1183540269106year=2007month=2007-06-01
	The European Commission has also issued a press statement expressing its concern about restrictions on the work of the ICRC in Burma. The statement can be found at:
	http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1012format=HTMLaged=0language=ENguiLanguage=enhttp://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1012format=HTMLaged=0language=ENguiLanguage=en
	We regularly raise our concerns with the regime about the serious humanitarian and human rights situation in Burma and will continue to emphasise the importance of the ICRC's humanitarian assistance in Burma.

Breast Cancer: Portsmouth

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in Portsmouth  (a) did not accept an invitation to routine breast screening,  (b) did not attend appointments made,  (c) were diagnosed with breast cancer and  (d) died from breast cancer in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Data on how many women in Portsmouth who did not accept an invitation to routine breast screening is not collected centrally.
	Data on how many women in Portsmouth who did not attend appointments made (or where the result was inadequate) is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Breast screening programme: Women invited for routine screening by Portsmouth Breast Screening Unit and their attendance each specified year 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Number of women invited 19,907 18,677 21,799 
			 Number of women screened (tech adequate)(1) 15,301 12,896 16,275 
			 Did not attend appointments or result was inadequate(2) 4,606 5,781 5,524 
			 (1) Number of women screened who produced a technically adequate result.  (2) Includes a small amount of women who where screened and produced an inadequate result.   Source:   KC62 table 1 A, B, Cl and C2 The Information Centre. 
		
	
	Data on how many women in Portsmouth were diagnosed with breast cancer is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Breast screening programme: Women diagnosed with cancer by Portsmouth Breast Screening Unit by invitation type each specified year 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Total women with breast cancer(1) 115 90 128 
			  of which:
			 Women invited for routine screening with breast cancer 93 82 117 
			 (1) Total women with cancer includes those called for routine screening, early recalls, and self and general practitioner referrals.  Source:  KC62 table 3 parts A, B, Cl, and C2 The Information Centre. 
		
	
	Data on how many women in Portsmouth died from breast cancer is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of deaths with an underlying cause of breast cancer, females, Portsmouth Unitary Authority, 2003-05( 1) 
			   Deaths (Females 
			 2003 35 
			 2004 30 
			 2005 36 
			 (1) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.  Notes: 1. Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50. 2. Based on unitary authority boundaries as of 2007.

Cardiovascular System: Screening

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that mortality rates for abdominal aortic aneurysm operations are reduced prior to the introduction of a national screening programme; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the mortality rate is in each strategic health authority in England for elective abdominal aortic aneurysm operations; and if she will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Commissioners of care and hospitals providing services have responsibility for ensuring quality of care, taking account of the Report published in October 2005 from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: A service in need of surgery?. The report is available at:
	www.ncepod.org.uk/2005report2/
	The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (NSC) has advised that screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) can be recommended, in principle, subject to further work, particularly on the appropriate configuration of treatment services and the provision for men to make an informed choice about whether to undergo screening. The NSC is considering the practical implications that would be involved in implementing a screening programme for AAA. Further detailed work under the auspice of the NSC is being undertaken on a number of practical issues. These include developing standard operating procedures, programme standards, quality assurance procedures and training requirements. The Department's officials will be kept informed on how this work develops.
	The information requested regarding mortality rates for elective AM operations by strategic health authority is not held centrally.

Dental Services: Stockport

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are working in Stockport; and how many there were in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: Numbers of national health service dentists within Stockport Primary Care Trust (PCT) as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 are available in Annex E of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006.
	This information is based on the old contractual arrangements. This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006.
	Numbers of NHS dentists within Stockport PCT as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table G of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007 report. This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4.
	The figures for quarter four and the earlier quarters in the year are provisional and are subject to revision. The final work force figure for 2006-07 will not be available until August 2007 when the Information Centre (1C) will publish an end year report on the first 12 months of the new contractual arrangements.
	This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements and is not directly comparable with earlier information.
	In both sets of figures, no account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.

Dental Services: Stockport

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dental surgeries there are in the Stockport Primary Care Trust area; and how many of these are accepting new NHS patients.

Ann Keen: The number of dental surgeries that are accepting new national health service patients is not collected centrally.
	As at 29 June 2007, there were 61 NHS dental surgeries within Stockport Primary Care Trust (PCD.
	The areas have been defined using practice postcodes within the PCT area. The figure provides a snapshot of the number of addresses with a contract at the specified date.
	No account is taken to the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.
	 Source
	The Information Centre for health and social care and the NHS Business Services Authority.

National Identity Card Scheme

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress has been made on the National Identity Card Scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Government remain committed to the introduction of the national identity scheme.
	ID cards are essential in combating identity fraud and illegal immigration and in disrupting organised crime and the continued threat of terrorism.